CAGE AND SINGING BiRDS. 
65 
Sometimes the eggs are laid on the dust of the wood aloneo 
If the birds are not disturbed, they will frequent the same 
nesting spot from year to 3^ear. 
Tit-catching is considered, by those who follow it pro- 
fessionally, a very amusing sport. The most successful 
methods are, — First, a caged call-bird, placed upon the 
ground, with sticks having limed twigs attached, planted 
obliquely over it; if a shrill whistle, made of the hollow 
wing-bone of a goose, be blown near the spot, it will attract 
all the tits in the neighbourhood. Second, a trap baited 
with nuts, bacon, or oats, placed in a tree in a garden ; the 
birds will be more readily attracted if the trap rest on a 
layer of oat straw : winter time is best for this means of cap- 
ture. Third, nooses baited with elder and service berries ; 
they must be of horsehair, or the bird will sever them with 
his sharp conical beak, and so escape. Fourth, the water- 
trap, where captures may be looked for from seven to nine 
o'clock in the morning, and from four to five o'clock in the 
afternoon. 
The song of the ox-eye, in confinement, is described by 
Bechstein as varied, and exceedingly melodious, consisting- of 
a frequent repetition of the syllables, Si-tzi-da ! Stiti, stiti ! 
intermixed with the double call, Fink,fiiih ! Tzitzeer ! He 
thinks that ox-eyes, if reared from the nest, would be found 
very docile, as the old ones evince great readiness to adopt 
the soKgs and call-notes of other birds. They may also be 
taught to perform curious tricks, such as drawing up food 
and water with a chain, &c. 
The ox-eye is by no means a delicate bird, but will eat 
almost anything ; it is particularly fond of nuts of any kind, 
also of meat, lard, and even talloAV. It is fond, too, of 
bathing, and likes plenty to drink. With care, it v/ill live in 
confinement from eight to ten years. It has been observed, 
that those kept in a close cage, and fed too much upon hemp- 
seed, are subject to giddiness 5 it is best to let them range 
the room or aviary at times ; but only after they have been 
well fed, as if pressed by hunger, they will attack and kill 
other birds, laying open the skull, and sucking out the 
brains, to which they are exceedingly partial. Bird sellers 
say that ox-eyes with these carnivorous propensities, are dis- 
tinguished by their forked tails ; but this is a fallacy, al- 
